Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-10-06
NO AID PAWN

It was ghostly place in broad daylight, if
the glmmer that stole in through the dense
forest that surrounded it when the sun was
directly overhead deserved this delHsve
name, At any other time It was-why, we
were afraid even to talk about II and as to
venturing within its gloomy borders, it was
currently believed among us that 10 do 50 was
to bring upon the intruder certain death /
knew every foot Of ground, wet and dry,
within five miles nj my fathers house except
this plantation, FOR had hunted by day aud
night every field, forest and marsh within
that radius; but the swamp and marshes"
that surrounded this place | had never in
vaded. The holdeSt hunter on the plantation
would call off his dogs and 20 home if they
struck trail that crossed the sobby boundary
line of "No Had Pawn
At length the property had fallen to one
more gloomy, more strange and more sinister
than any one who had gone before him-a
man whose personal characteristics and habits
were unique in that country He was of
gigantic stature and superiunan strength,
and possessed app,'tifes and vices in proper
ton to his size He could fell OK with
down the branch Of tree or bend bar of
iron like reed He, either from caprice or
ignorance, spoke only a patois not unlike the
creole French of the Louisiana parishes. But
he was West Indian. His brutal temper
and habits cut him of from even the small
measure Of intercourse which had existed be-
tween his predecessors and their neighbors,
and he lived at No Had Pawn completely
isolated. All the stories and traditions of tho
place at once cenIerpd on him. and fabulous
tales were told OF his proves and of his life.
1t was said, among other things, that he pre-
served his wonderful strength by drinking
human blood, tale which IN a certain sense
i have never seen reason to question MAX
ing all allowances, his life was a blot upon
civilization At length it eliminated. a
brutal temper, infame, by unbridIed pas
sions after long period of license and de
bauchery, came to il climax in final orgy Of
ferocity and fury, in which he was guilty of
an act whose fiendishneSs surpassed belief
and he was brought to Judgment.
In modern times the very inhumanity of
the crime would probably have proved his
security, and us he had destroyed his own
property while he was perpetrating crime
of appalling ana unparalleled horror, he
might have found defense in that standing
refuge OF extraordinary sconndrelism-in-
sanity This defense, indeed was put in, and
was pressed with much ability by his counsel,
one of whom was my father, who had just
then been admitted to the bar; but fortu-
natsly for the cause of Justice, neither courts
nor juries Were then 50 sentimental as they
have become of late years and the last Occu-
pant of No Had Pawn paid under the law
the full penalty OF his hideuus crime. 1t was
one of the curious incidents Of the trial that
his negroes ali lamented his death and de-
clared that he was good master when he
was not drunk He was hanged Just at the
rear n his own house, within sight Of the
spot where bis awfni crime was committed
At his execution, whi,4i, according TO the
custom OF the country, was public, horrible
coincidence occurred which furnished the
text of many a sermon Oh retrlbntige justice
among the negroes
The body was Inferred near the pond, close
by the thicket, where the negroes were hurried
but the negroes declared that it preferred one
of the stone chambers under the mansion,
where it made its home and that it might I've
seen at any time of the day or night stalking
headless about the place They used to dwell
details of this wretchs dreadful crime, the
whole eliminating in the final act of maniacal
fury when the gigantic monster dragged the
hacked and headless corpse Of his victim up
the staircase and stood 1t UP before the open
window III his hall Ill the full view of the
terrified slaves After these narrations the
continued temperance Of the murderer and
his headleSs victim was natural to us as it
was TO the negroes themselves; and, as night
after night we would hurry up to the great
house through the darkness We were ever on
the watch lest he should appear to our
frighted vision frCH the shades Of the shrut.-
berry filled yard.
Thus it was that of all ghostly places No
Haid Pawn had the distinction Of being in
vested, TO US, with unparalleled horror, and
thus to us no less than because the dykes had
given away and the overilnwrd flats had
turned again to swamp and Jingle, it was ex-
plicahle that No Had Pawn was abandoned,
and was now mtrOdden by any foot but that
of its gbOstly tenants
The time Of my story was 49, The spring
previous continuous rams had kept the river
full and had flooded the low grounds and
this had been followed ny an exceptionally
dense growth IN the summer Then, public
feeling was greatly excited at the time OF
which | write over the discovery in the
neighbOrhoOd Of several emissaries of the IN
dergroGnd railway, or-aS they were mi
verSally considered in that country-Of the
devil. They had been run off or had disap-
peared suddenly, but had lift behind them
some little excitement ON the part of the
slaves and great deal on the part of their
In nj
negroes had run away. All, however, had
been caught or had returned home after
sufficient interval Of freedom, except one who
had escaped permanently and who was sup
posed to have accompanied his instigators on
their flight
This man was well known character. He
belonged to one Of our neighbors, and had
been bought and brought there from an es-
tate on the Lower Mississippi He was the
raOst brutal negrp ever knew He was OF II
type rarely found among our negroes, who,
judging from their physiognomy and general
characteristics, came principally from the
coast of Africa They are of moderate
stature, with dull but amiable faces This
man, however, was of immense size, and he
possessed the features and expression of
a Congo desperate In character also he diff
fered essentially from all the other slaves in
our country He was alike without their
amiability and their dOcillty and was as
fearless as he was brutal. He was the only
negro / ever knew who was without ethel
superstition or reverence. Indeed, he differed
so widely from the rest Of the slaves in that
section that there existed some feeling against
him almost akin to a race feeling. At the
same time that he exercised considerable in
huence over them they were dreadfuily afraid
of him, and were always in terror that he
would trick them, to which awful power be
laid well known claim His curses in his
strange dialect used to terrify them beyond
measure, and they would do anything to con-
ciliate him He had been continual source
of trouble, and an object of suspicion in the
neighborhood from the time of his first ap-
pearance; and more than one hog that the
negroes declared had wandered into the
marshes of No Haid Pawn, and had "cut his |
thote jes' swinin' aroun' an aroun' in de |
ash, had been suspected Of finding its way |
to this mans cabin. His master had often |
been urged to get rid of him, but he was kept,
l think, probably because he was valuable on
the plantation. He was fine butcher a
good work hand, and first-class boatman.
Moreover, ours was a conservative popula-
ton, IN which every man minded his own
business and let his neighbor's alone
At the time of the visits of those secret
agents to which have referred, this negro
Has discovered to be the leader in the secret |
ueetings held under their auspices, and he |
would doubtless have been taken up and ship |